Head of the week: "Advertising is like flirting - you don't do it with a sledgehammer".
In just under two years as managing director, Thomas Lüber has turned the Lesch + Frei brand around
Thomas Lüber has revamped the Lesch + Frei brand in just under two years as Managing Director / The Managing Director of Lesch + Frei does not want to be seen as the originator of pompous slogans. They contradict his agency's credo: "Advertising is like flirting - you don't do it with a sledgehammer". And just as Thomas Lüber hardly ever says "New now! Thomas Lüber! Super!", he doesn't want to bludgeon anyone with advertising: "Of course, advertising has to stand out and be seen, but you can also try to do it in a friendly way. After all, nobody waits for advertising."
The 37-year-old came to these conclusions on his career path, which began with a school-leaving certificate. The guest appearance at the university's German department remained an episode. "I very quickly came to the conclusion that I wanted to use language instead of just thinking about it," says Lüber, explaining his firm decision. To put it into practice, he started knocking on advertising doors. Ivan Scotti opened the door and allowed Lüber to enter the world of applied linguistics in 1986.
In the years that followed, his career revolved around the gravity center Lesch + Frei. Between detours to GGK Zurich and Lowe GGK, he was repeatedly drawn back to Zurich's Weinbergstrasse, finally joining Walter Tagliaferri as Managing Director in March 2000.
Since then, Lüber has made it his mission to return Lesch + Frei to the top ranks of Swiss agencies. The success is impressive: In 21 months, Lesch + Frei has acquired 17 new clients, including Finanz+Wirtschaft, Siemens Schweiz AG, Erdöl-Vereinigung and Brauerei Eichhof.
What is the secret of success? "There are no big secrets," waves Lüber away, "we have placed a lot of emphasis on strategic planning and brought a clear structure to order processing." At the same time, Tagliaferri put a lot of effort into getting the acquisition process up to scratch.
However, Lüber does not want to change the agency's profile. "We position ourselves as a creative agency with strategic expertise. That may sound boring, but it works well in agency presentations," jokes the Managing Director. His aim is to run an agency whose work promotes itself through its quality and brings its creators back into conversation with clients.
Despite all the strategic tasks, Lüber has not lost the fun of writing: "The best moment for me is when I sit in front of a blank page, when I can start to reinvent the world." He doesn't know the horror vacui of the blank page. "You just start spinning away. The page doesn't stay blank for long."
Bruno Amstutz
The 37-year-old came to these conclusions on his career path, which began with a school-leaving certificate. The guest appearance at the university's German department remained an episode. "I very quickly came to the conclusion that I wanted to use language instead of just thinking about it," says Lüber, explaining his firm decision. To put it into practice, he started knocking on advertising doors. Ivan Scotti opened the door and allowed Lüber to enter the world of applied linguistics in 1986.
In the years that followed, his career revolved around the gravity center Lesch + Frei. Between detours to GGK Zurich and Lowe GGK, he was repeatedly drawn back to Zurich's Weinbergstrasse, finally joining Walter Tagliaferri as Managing Director in March 2000.
Since then, Lüber has made it his mission to return Lesch + Frei to the top ranks of Swiss agencies. The success is impressive: In 21 months, Lesch + Frei has acquired 17 new clients, including Finanz+Wirtschaft, Siemens Schweiz AG, Erdöl-Vereinigung and Brauerei Eichhof.
What is the secret of success? "There are no big secrets," waves Lüber away, "we have placed a lot of emphasis on strategic planning and brought a clear structure to order processing." At the same time, Tagliaferri put a lot of effort into getting the acquisition process up to scratch.
However, Lüber does not want to change the agency's profile. "We position ourselves as a creative agency with strategic expertise. That may sound boring, but it works well in agency presentations," jokes the Managing Director. His aim is to run an agency whose work promotes itself through its quality and brings its creators back into conversation with clients.
Despite all the strategic tasks, Lüber has not lost the fun of writing: "The best moment for me is when I sit in front of a blank page, when I can start to reinvent the world." He doesn't know the horror vacui of the blank page. "You just start spinning away. The page doesn't stay blank for long."
Bruno Amstutz
